By Andee Zeigler, March 19, 2019
Second place is never the goal, especially when submitting an offer on a home that your client loves. When I write an offer and my clients don’t “win” it I always inquire about being in back-up position. So what does that mean?
When a seller selects an offer and the property is pending that doesn’t mean it is going to close. There are a variety of situations in which a buyer will terminate and often times it has nothing to do with the condition of the property. If you are a buyer in back-up position and the first position buyer terminates you are then moved into first position. This means that the property doesn’t go back on market, it is first offered to you. It also means that your timeline for opening escrow, inspections etc. start on the date that you mutually agree to move into first position.
At least once a year I have a buyer move from back-up to first position and they have always closed. If I have a buyer in back-up I ask the listing agent to keep me notified of the buyers inspection timeline and I check in mid inspection period. This particular property had a buyer terminate on the final day of inspections with no explanation, they simply sent a termination agreement. We entered the inspection period cautiously optimistic. I’ll be honest, this was one of the ugliest inspections I have seen, an overwhelming number of costly concerns. We took time to gather bids, second opinions, third opinions and had long talks about the reality of moving forward. It would have been easy to walk, but why not shoot for the moon?! We wrote a very thorough repair addendum with some seriously big asks. The seller was gracious and incredibly responsive, she knew where she stood and she wanted this house to sell and 
she wanted to do it right. My buyer received significant credits and repairs and we closed just a week over our originally agreed close date!
Two lessons here, always ask to be in back-up and take the time to gather a thorough presentation for big asks during the inspection period, you just never know!
Andee Zeigler
Principal Broker | OR
She/Her
I have called Portland home for over 20 years and can’t imagine raising my babies anywhere else. I have been a REALTOR® for over a decade and still wake up every day delighted that I truly love what I do...
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- T: 503-901-6864
- andee@livingroomre.com
